Moving back to Ohio, and to the Columbus area, means a number of authors come to bookstores and libraries here. A couple weeks ago, several of us had the chance to hear Anne Lamott on her book tour. This week, my sister, Linda and I went to a lunch sponsored by Gramercy Books, an independent bookstore in Bexley. Janet Skeslien Charles is the author of The New York Times bestseller, The Paris Library.

Charles spent a decade researching librarian Jessie Carson for her new book, Miss Morgan’s Book Brigade. Following lunch, she talked about her book, and the women involved in it while suggesting we look at the photos she included in the book. And, when I told her afterwards that I was a retired librarian, she said, “Thank you. You make it possible to be me.”

For those who like to follow my book adventures, after lunch Linda and I went to Gramercy Books where we both bought books. I picked up one that I’ll be giving away soon. And, eventually, after we’ve read our books, I’ll be giving away copies of Miss Morgan’s Book Brigade. Don’t get over-eager. We need a little time for that one!

And, we went from an author lunch and a bookstore to the new Reynoldsburg Branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library.

So, that was our day on Friday. I’ll end with the publisher’s summary of Miss Morgan’s Book Brigade.

The New York Times and internationally bestselling author of the “captivating, richly drawn” (Woman’s World) The Paris Library returns with a brilliant new novel based on the true story of Jessie Carson—the American librarian who changed the literary landscape of France.

1918: As the Great War rages, Jessie Carson takes a leave of absence from the New York Public Library to work for the American Committee for Devastated France. Founded by millionaire Anne Morgan, this group of international women help rebuild destroyed French communities just miles from the front. Upon arrival, Jessie strives to establish something that the French have never seen—children’s libraries. She turns ambulances into bookmobiles and trains the first French female librarians. Then she disappears.

1987: When NYPL librarian and aspiring writer Wendy Peterson stumbles across a passing reference to Jessie Carson in the archives, she becomes consumed with learning her fate. In her obsessive research, she discovers that she and the elusive librarian have more in common than their work at New York’s famed library, but she has no idea their paths will converge in surprising ways across time.

Based on the extraordinary little-known history of the women who received the Croix de Guerre medal for courage under fire, Miss Morgan’s Book Brigade is a tribute to the resilience of the human spirit, the power of literature, and ultimately the courage it takes to make a change.